Finance committee combines Ho-Chunk funds to cover De Soto emergency tower payment after initial plan fails

Vernon County’s Finance Committee on Jan. 16 approved using Ho-Chunk funds to cover the first-year interest and payments for a new De Soto Area emergency radio tower after an earlier financing proposal failed on a 3-2 vote.

Nate Campbell explained that a 180-foot tower would cost $296,759.01 and a 300-foot option would cost roughly $200,000 more; the committee agreed the taller tower was not justified. A motion by Mike Leis, seconded by Rod Ofte, to take the first-year interest payment from Ho-Chunk funds and add the tower payment to an existing Motorola loan failed (Ofte voted yes; Kevin Larson, Adrian Amelse and Ole Yttri voted no; Leis voted yes).

The committee then approved a motion by Adrian Amelse, seconded by Kevin Larson, to combine a previously discussed $1.1 million allocation with the $296,759.01 and to pay the interest and payments from Ho-Chunk funds for 2020, with the funding approach to be revisited in 2021. The motion carried unanimously among the committee members present.

The resolution as approved funds the 180-foot tower and directs county finance staff to apply the combined Ho-Chunk allocation to cover the 2020 payment obligations. Committee discussion noted the first payment on other new equipment is scheduled for November 2020 and that committee members wanted to preserve flexibility for 2021 levy considerations.

The committee did not approve the higher 300-foot tower option and did not take a separate formal vote on tower height beyond the funding decisions. The committee’s action concludes the county-level funding decision for the De Soto tower pending any further administrative steps required for procurement or construction.